Open Your Doors For Trick-or-Treaters on Halloween

A neighbor giving out candy to children last year in the Woodlands. Photo by Tannah Robins.

By: Sharon Aron Baron

Let’s throw away the notion that the Woodlands was a retirement community and embrace our new normal: that we’re now a community where many families are raising their children.

It’s been a long road to get people in the habit of buying candy and opening their doors on Halloween night for Trick-or-treaters. Some years there are many, while others there are just a few.

And who wants to get stuck with all that leftover candy? Wink wink.

Tannah Robins wrote this in the hope that more people would participate this year:

Last year we took our son & his friend to Trick or Treating in our community. We went through section 5, 7, 8 and random houses on the boulevard and throughout the community that we saw lights on and had a great time. I haven’t heard much about Halloween this year but we plan to stay in our community again this year and hope that we can all come together and support the children and families here with kids. For us, we will be leaving candy out for kids when we are out or my husband will be home handing it out. Nothing more disappointing for kids to go up to a house full of cars and lights, ring the doorbell, say “trick or treat” and no-one answer.

Please, Please support our kids this Halloween, turn on your lights and pass out candy! Tell us where you are and we will come by! Thank you.

Trick-or-Treating on a golf cart is typical in our community.

Unfortunately, many of our residents don’t participate in the old tradition of trick-or treating, and it isn’t anything new. It’s been a tradition in our country since the late 1950s. One of the biggest problems I hear from many parents is that no one participates in trick-or-treating in the Woodlands. Our families have to go to other communities because many residents either do not give out candy, or parents assume that the children do not trick-or-treat here and don’t even stick around on Halloween night.

Back when I grew up, there wasn’t a single neighbor that didn’t open there door and hand us treats. I carried around a pillowcase to carry home all of my loot.

It was like winning the lottery. The candy lottery!

Why should our own community be any different?

Let’s make some good memories for our next generation and pass out candy one evening each year.

Monday, October 31st is Halloween. Turn on your porch lights and buy a bag of candy and hand it out. Or better yet, sit outside and maybe meet some neighbors trick or treating on their golf carts. Oh yes, and drive slowly too.

5 Responses to Open Your Doors For Trick-or-Treaters on Halloween

This my final post and I will do so as an open letter to the woodlands community.

When my wife and I sold our home in the better neighborhood of East Kendall we did so with architecture as our primary desire as we are both big fans of Joseph Eichler.
We found the woodlands and the mid-century homes on the Blvd and the houses tucked away in the furthest reaches of the golf course breathtaking.
We decided to purchase a home here.
The purchase of our home caused resentment with the real estate agency that runs their operation through the illusion of section five committee chairs. You see we didn’t trust Sarah Jane Rose because she had a penchant for overvaluing homes by over 50%. I eventually purchased our home for a whopping $ 100,000.00 less than the asking price.
We had our agent finalize the sale discounting Sarah’s commission in half. This is where the owner of the real estate agency and then section five president Bonnie Schultz starts a public feud with me.
Instead of apologizing for the oversight of welcoming me to the neighborhood she doubled down on the rhetoric calling me a liar. Quite neighborly.
Shortly after gutting our home right down to the studs I realized that no matter what I did to retain the architectural integrity of my home nobody else got it. Wagon wheels, fake brick, and colonial fixtures destroyed every home within view.
Later this was confirmed when I met the owner of this website to speak about an article with Atomic Ranch Magazine, hoping to gain some authoritative policy to keep these homes original with a historical designation.
I was ridiculed months ago for publicly declaring that an element was moving in that would ultimately destroy the woodlands.
I received criticism when I predicted the end was near, and I understand the response.
However last night was the nightmare I had predicted and I am sad to say I was right. Our neighbors Traci and Edward moved into their home without any inspection nor a property survey. They know nothing of the rules and regulations of this neighborhood as they have been cited on numerous occasions (public record). Yet somehow Traci has been elected to section five in some lame duck capacity.
Our handling of property damage and trespassing was done with a neighbor invitation to sit and resolve the problem in my home. This sit down didn’t resonate with our neighbors who took the apposition of “don’t you disrespect me” with hips swaying and a finger wagging in the air.
I represented myself as the plaintiff and the mountains of evidence including, surveys, lot photos and a letter from the neighbors admitting to the crimes was not allowed by the judge because the defendants attorney objected to the evidence being “real” a stamped survey by the city of Tamarac was not admissible. Okay?
It was by all accounts a moral victory for me as smiled during the judge’s numerous reminder to Ed and Traci that they were under oath. What made the entire farce so delicious was that Bonnie Schultz witnessed the entire shit show and my neighbors paid an attorney twice the settlement amount.

One year has passed, so why is Ed pacing in his driveway at 7:30pm, why does he have spot lights on and why is he staring me down?
Within a few seconds both my wife and I are staring down the barrel of a handgun cocked and ready to open fire.
Traci likes to think of herself as some quasi-debutante from Jamaica trying to move it on up to that deluxe apartment in the sky. Unfortunately, she and her husband have done just the opposite. They brought their ghetto values and thuggery to the woodlands.
Things are getting real, real stupid and I’m not going to be living next to coward, paper gangsta slumped down in his car like Tupac. This isn’t straight outta Compton.
But I am getting straight outta Tamarac!

I have lived in and been associated in the woodlands since 1968.
The home in which I live originally belonged to my parents.
Never in the history have I ever heard such things as described in this letter.
I don’t care from where my neighbors come as long as they are good people and
They respect their property and mine. I guess I’m fortunate that I live on Royal Poinciana
And have kind and caring neighbors whom I appreciate. When selling ones home it would be
Nice if the prospective buyers were investigated a little and their prior homestead looked into.
It’s too bad that it has to come to this. Checking references before you can comfortably sell
Your house. I for one enjoy the diversity of my community as to ethnicity ages children and
Sexual orientation. Two years ago I opened my home for a holiday party
And some of us went caroling. The ones who knew most of the word were
The two Jewish people in the group. We had a great time. If the good lord speare me and the creek don’t rise maybe I’ll do it again. I love bringing neighbors old and young white and of color into my
Life at the age of 78 it’s too late to stick to one kind of people Every person who enters my life is dear to me.
I will make sure that I will be home on Monday to greet the children and their parents. The candy is waiting. To Adam please don’t leave. Make your neighbor see the error of his ways and report bad behavior to the authorities.
Don’t give up the fight. I myself was accosted by an unknown neighbor because was walking on the road with my dogs my friend and her aged mother and her dog and this person almost hit my dog because she was looking at
H
hat phone. She blamed me for being on the street. Duh! We don’t have sidewalks. We have blind curves and dogs and old people. I know it might be inconvenient but we must look out for
Pedestrians and make sure you are going slowly enough to stop if you happen across
Someone on the street. The life you save may be mine. Well I think I’ve said it all.
Happy safe halloween
Ask me about our exploits when I was a child. That was truly Trick or Treat.

Hi Sharon,
Wayne knocked himself out putting up Halloween decorations in our front yard,so all are welcome to Trick or Treat at our house on Buttonwood Ct.in Section 1! Unfortunately we may be the only house on the street.
We need a sense a sense of Community here before everyone loses touch with all their neighbors.